In municipal water supply applications, water meters are typically installed where a municipal water supply system connects with a residential or commercial water distribution system. For example, in a residential application, such water meters are typically installed where the municipal water supply pipe enters the house. Such water meters measure the volume of water provided to the user so that the municipality can bill the user for the amount of water used.
To facilitate installation, maintenance, replacement and readability of the water meter, water meters are often installed using meter setters. A meter setter is a device interposed between a municipal supply pipe and a building distribution pipe. The meter setter has a space defined in the piping therein for installation of the water meter, so that when the water meter is installed, all water flowing from the supply pipe to the distribution pipe flows through the water meter.
A typical meter setter 18 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. Broadly, moving from a supply end to a distribution end, the illustrated meter setter 18 comprises a supply fitting, an inlet pipe 22, an inlet meter fitting 24, an outlet meter fitting 26, an outlet pipe 28 and a distribution fitting. Other features such as check valves and shut-off valves are also illustrated but are not described herein as they are not directly relevant to the present invention.
The illustrated meter setter 18 is installed between a supply pipe (not shown) and a distribution pipe (also not shown). The supply fitting 20 of the meter setter 18 is connected to the supply pipe while the distribution fitting 30 is connected to the distribution pipe. The water meter (not shown) is then installed between the inlet and outlet meter fittings 24 and 26.
During manufacture of meter setters 18, it is often challenging to ensure that the inlet and outlet meter fittings 24, 26 are positioned correctly. Failure to ensure that these fittings 24, 26 are aligned and appropriately spaced can result in difficulty installing the water meter, and can indeed cause damage to the water meter during installation, particularly if the water meter being installed has plastic connectors.
Further, proper alignment and spacing of the inlet and outlet meter fittings 24, 26 can be compromised during rough handling associated with shipping of the meter setter 18. To avoid such damage, complex, bulky and expensive shipping containers and packing are often used for shipping meter setters 18.
Additionally, during installation of the meter setter 18, particularly if the positioning of the supply and distribution pipes do not match the positioning of the supply and distribution fittings 20, 30 of the meter setter 18 precisely, the meter setter 18 can sometimes become slightly warped resulting in misalignment of the inlet and outlet meter fittings 24, 26.
Finally, there can often arise delays between installation of the meter setter 18 and installation of the water meter within the meter setter 18. This can result for example where the meter setter 18 is installed during construction of a new house, but the water meter itself is not installed until some time thereafter when municipal installers are able to attend at the house. In such instances, it is often useful to provide a fluid connection between the inlet and outlet meter fittings 24, 26 such that water may be supplied to the house pending installation of the water meter. In order to effect this fluid connection, installers often provide ad hoc solutions such as the installation of a hose or a manually threaded PVC pipe between the two fittings. However, such solutions can require time on the part of the installer to find or fashion an appropriate device to fit between the inlet and outlet meter fittings 24, 26, and to install the device in the meter setter 18. Furthermore, such devices may or may not be able to effectively withstand the pressure exerted by the water, either at the connections to the inlet and outlet meter fittings 24, 26, or within the device itself.